DMK, BJD, BRS top earners among regional parties in 2021-22: ADR report

New Delhi: Ten regional parties, including the DMK, BJD, YSR Congress, JDU and the AAP, have declared receiving Rs Rs 852.88 crore donations through electoral bonds in 2021-22, according to an NGO working for electoral reforms.

The total income of 36 regional parties for the financial year was Rs 1,213 crore, the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) said in a report, citing official data.

The report analysed the total income and expenditure incurred by 36 out of 54 regional parties during 2021-22, as declared by these parties in their audit reports submitted to the Election Commission on India.

"Ten regional parties -- DMK, BJD, TRS, YSR-Congress, JDU, SP, AAP, SAD, MGP and TDP -- have declared receiving donations through electoral bonds worth Rs 852.88 crore...for 2021-22," it said.

The TRS (Telangana Rashtra Samithi) has subsequently renamed as the Bharat Rashtra Samithi. The party is in power in Telangana.

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), which is currently in power in Tamil Nadu, reported having the highest income among the parties at Rs 318 crore, which forms 26.27 per cent of the total income of all the parties analysed, followed by the BJD with an income of Rs 307 crore and the TRS Rs 218 crore, according to the report.

The total income of top five parties amounted to Rs 1024.424 crore, or 84.44 per cent of the total income of the political parties analysed collectively.

For 35 parties out of 36 political parties whose data is available for both 2020-21 and 2021-22, twenty parties have shown an increase in their income and 15 parties have shown a decline in their income.

The total income of the 35 parties increased from Rs 565.424 crore in 2020-21 to Rs 1,212.708 crore in 2021-22, a total increase of 114.48 per cent.

The Biju Janata Dal (BJD), which governs Odisha, reported the highest increase in its income of Rs 233.941 crore, followed by TRS and DMK which declared a total increase of Rs 180.454 crore and Rs 168.795 crore respectively, it stated.

Twenty-one regional parties declared a part of their income as remaining unspent for 2021-22 while 15 political parties spent more than the income collected during the year.

The DMK has more than Rs 283 crore of its total income remaining unspent while BJD and TRS have Rs 278 crore and Rs 190 crore unspent income respectively.

The total declared expenditure of the 36 regional parties for 2021-22 was Rs 288 crore.

The total expenditure incurred by the top five parties is Rs 176.779 crore or 61.35 per cent of the total expenditure as reported by the 36 political parties.

The top five parties that have incurred the highest expenditure are SP (Rs 54 crore), DMK (Rs 35 crore), AAP (Rs 30 crore), BJD (Rs 28 crore) and AIADMK (Rs 28 crore).